The subject of this invention is a piece of furniture with a table top whose height and/or angle of tilt can be adjusted, according to the characterizing clause of Patent Claim 1.
A piece of office furniture with an adjustable table top is known in which on the rear edge of the table top, two bolts are arranged whose projecting ends pass through vertical slits of a hollow connecting support. Within the hollow space of the support, there are two vertical adjusting spindles each of which supports a retaining nut which is connected with the bolt in such a way that the rear part of the table is raised or lowered whenever the spindles are twisted.
The adjusting mechanism on the front of the well-known piece of office furniture consists of two adjustable control rods which slide diametrically opposed to each other in their longitudinal direction and which are attached to the front area of the table top; the outer end of each of these control rods projects into one of the side arms of the furniture piece. Each of the side arms has a wedge element which tapers upward and whose wedge surfaces support the control rods. By means of changing the distance of the outer ends of the control rods, a different height level of the table is obtained and/or the angle of tilt is changed.
The production of the two adjusting mechanisms of the well-known piece of office furniture is relatively expensive and mounting them on the table is time-consuming. In addition, a large number of different parts are required, which renders an economic production impossible.
Another well-known piece of furniture with an adjustable table top is one by means of which four vertical spindles, both the height as well as the angle of tilt of the table top can be adjusted. Two of these vertical spindles are connected to the rear edge of the table top and can be moved from below the table by means of a crank mechanism. The lifting device is solidly connected with the table and its construction is relatively complicated. It is not suitable for use in a piece of furniture which is to be assembled in a modular design. Both assembly as well as disassembly of the adjusting device are very time-consuming.
Yet another table is known which can be adjusted in height by means of spindles and a crank mechanism and whose vertical spindles pass through two spur gears which are designed as nuts. The spur gears are driven by means of a joint cogged belt which is moved by a crank and a bevel-gear drive. Neither the adjusting device nor the table as such is suitable for a standardized modular design.